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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A day in the life...

What a whirlwind 24 hours!

Yesterday I received notice that my contract for "The Bite" has been extended through the end of March! YAY!!! I am so excited that I get to continue working on this awesome show. The show went live last week and will certainly soon be available at a restaurant near you!

Yesterday afternoon, we received an opportunity we've been waiting for since the free agency period started in March! Ryan's agent sent a text that the New Orleans Saints called and expressed an interest in Ryan. Within minutes, Ryan was on the phone with the team - they were flying him out for a workout. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon - Ryan was gone by 5/5:15.

After Ryan left, the enormity of the situation hit me. For one, I had to shoot my show today, so I called up the babysitting agency we use and they were able to find a sitter for the kids. Then, I thought about how cool it would be for Ryan to sign with the team, but I also thought about how I'd sent my husband off to the airport not knowing if he was going to be coming home. See, these NFL workouts are interesting. Teams will bring in several guys for one spot. The team will either sign you on the day of the workout or will send you back home that evening. For all we knew, Ryan was going to be in New Orleans for several weeks with only the clothes he was able to pack in his carry-on. But I was okay with that. I psyched myself up for single mom duty and got ready for today. I was up WAY later than I had hoped, but I needed to get things prepared for the show and my shoot.

The babysitter arrived this morning and I was out the door. The shot was great as usual, but I couldn't help but wonder how Ryan's day was going. He sent me updates when he could - there were three other guys trying out with him for the tight end spot. He passed a physical and was waiting for his workout. I was so full of hope and anticipation - would things finally work out for him??? I sure did hope so.

While at work, I got a call from the nurse at Will's school for the second time in as many days. Today, Will was apparently holding his belly and saying "owie." I wrote it off - either he was hungry, had to poop, or he'd run into something at home and hurt himself (not out of the ordinary for our little gymnast). I decided I'd run him to the doctor when I got home just to check and make sure he didn't have something serious going on, like appendicitis. Of course, it was one more thing for me to worry about.

On the way home from the shoot, I got off the freeway to stop and pick up some cupcakes for Will's birthday. Oh yes - forgot to mention - today is Will's 4th birthday! Unfortunately, it's been uneventful for him, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. Anyway, when I got off the freeway, I noticed a super shiny Mercedes in front of me swerving around. I assumed it was someone on the phone or texting. As I followed the car, I realized it was a bit more serious. The person driving that car was clearly under the influence of something. I saw her barely miss rearending two cars at stop lights. I decided to press my OnStar button and report the person to the police. As I followed the vehicle, I watched the driver swerve from lane to lane. She hit the curb with the left side of her car twice. She was eventually driving on a flat tire. At one point, she came to a dead stop in an intersection. I pulled up next to her and she was PASSED OUT! She finally passed out for good about a mile away from my home. I sure enough waited there behind her with my caution lights on until the cops arrived. I watched them give her a field sobriety test (that was actually pretty funny - she was tore up and couldn't even walk!), arrest her and haul her away in the squad car. She deserved it. That woman could've hit a child or an innocent family. In the two or three miles I followed her, I still can't believe no one was seriously injured.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stop for the cupcakes.

Once Will got home, I took him to our favorite Urgent Care around the corner. Long story short and $170, Will is apparently really constipated (hence the tummy ache) and we've been given a prescription for a laxative, and if that doesn't work, a suppository. Nice.

While at the doctor's office, Ryan called to deliver the news that he was coming home. What we were eventually able to piece together is that the team signed one of the other guys who had actually played for the Saints' head coach when he was with another team. Because of that comfort factor, he seemingly had the edge over Ryan (that happens all the time unfortunately). The good news is that the Saints were impressed with Ryan and he appears to be #1 on their emergency list if this other guy doesn't pan out or if they suffer any further injuries at Ryan's position.

So he's on his way home. And I'm exhausted. I'm looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight!